Never Let Him Go
by iEvenstarEstel
Summary: Connor decides to turn Abby's very bad day into a happy one.


Never Let Him Go  
2012 Evenstar Estel

"I wouldn't go in if I were you," Becker warned his friend as they passed in the corridor, Connor headed in the direction of the menagerie.

Connor paused and turned back to question what he'd just been told. "And why's that, pray tell?" he asked cautiously.

"Venetti and Sykes both called in sick. Again."

Connor could practically feel his blood boiling. Venetti and Sykes were two of Abby's assistants in the menagerie. They'd been hired to basically do the day to day tending of the animals, which included feeding and watering them and mucking out their pens before the weekend. The new menagerie was nearly complete and would be a veritable paradise compared to what the creatures now lived in, but it wasn't yet ready. Some of the larger creatures were being moved to sanctuaries, but that time was a few weeks away. In the meantime, they had to made as content and comfortable as possible. That meant that once a day their pens needed to be properly cleaned. Without Venetti and Sykes to help, it was going to take Abby the better part of the day. By the end of it she was going to be sweaty, smelly and downright miserable.

"I don't care, they're fired after this!" Connor seethed. "Give them a top secret, high paid, government job and they use up their sick days to joke about and when they get legitimately ill, they still don't come in to work! This is outrageous!"

"Don't worry, Abby said as much herself already. I've asked Jess to track their whereabouts and check the city's CCTV to see if they can be spotted out doing whatever it is they're doing. If they can't take their jobs seriously, they don't deserve to have them. Lester enjoys firing people, this'll be good news for him. In the meantime, I've send a couple of my men down to help her. I just left them. She's somewhere between tears and rage, and up to her knees in mammoth dung, so you've been warned."

"Thanks, mate, but I love her, even covered in mammoth... yeah."

"Good luck then, you're going to need it!"

Connor continued on his path and entered the lab attached to the menagerie and looked down through the viewing glass. His beloved was stripped down to her vest with her laced up boots caked in debris, filth on her trousers and her skin dripping with sweat. Even in that state, he was still turned on by her. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail and the lose tendrils clung to the skin of her face and neck. As did her clothing. Connor adjusted himself in his trousers and rolled his shoulders. He and Abby had snuck in little trysts in the ARC before, but he knew there was very little chance of luring her away from tending to her animals. Besides, at the moment she probably didn't smell too keen. He loved her dearly but he was fairly certain the scent of mammoth dung would spoil the mood.

She looked up and caught sight of him. Connor waved and smiled and she smiled back. The look of happiness and gratitude on her face at the sight of him had him rethinking his earlier thoughts. He could hold his breath. She leaned against her shovel and wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. Her chest rose and fell as she regained her breath. With a quick nod, Connor turned towards the entrance down into the menagerie to offer his help and then the disruptive sirens of the ADD sounded throughout the building. Connor cursed the skies and watched with chagrin as Abby's shoulders slumped and her entire spirit seemed to deflate before his eyes. It was then he decided he had to do something to bring her beautiful smile back. In the meantime however, they had another anomaly to deal with.

!*!*!

"He... he left?" Abby asked, her bottom lip beginning to tremble. She stood in the corridor of the ARC, hair still dripping from her shower. She'd been covered from head to toe in the slime of the prehistoric slugs they'd eventually been able to send back home. They'd been surprisingly swift and she'd been unlucky enough to have collided with one. The reason for the incident was that she was protecting her beloved fiancé from them. He'd been at the locking mechanism and there'd been some sort of hitch. Connor was desperately trying to fix it as more of the Alsatian sized slugs came tumbling through. The team were in a panic as the creatures left heavy, viscous slime in their wake. The stench was terrible and the team was in a frenzy to contain them. The slugs seemed to like to glom on to people and anything else they saw as a threat in order to incapacitate them. Their slime made it impossible to move quickly, it was more or less like being covered in glue.

Abby saw one barreling towards her love and put herself between him and it. She put her arms up in defense, but she still took the full brunt of the impact and was drenched in goo. She screamed and twisted the thing off her, but it was too late. She was coated. Connor got the locking mechanism working again and was at her side in seconds, fraught with concern for her well-being. However, when he got within two feet of her, he skidded to a halt, nearly retching as he got a whiff. No one would come near her. Eventually Connor mustered up the courage to lovingly pat her elbow in sympathy, it being the only part of her not covered in slime.

She tried very hard not to cry, but ultimately lost the battle. The smell, the wretched feeling of the slime coating her and the mammoth dung still clinging to her boots and trousers was just too much for her. Connor was sympathetic and cajoling, but what she wanted was a cuddle and he just couldn't bring himself to pull her into his arms. Becker, bless him, was the one to notice that her tears seemed to be dissolving the slime on her face. Her surmised it must be the salt content in them that was the active ingredient. He ordered her to go back to the ARC with his men and asked Jess to get boxes of salt at the ready for when they got back.

After she was mercifully clean and dressed in the sweats she kept in her locker, there was nothing Abby wanted more in the whole world than a proper Connor cuddle. Discovering he'd already gone home verily broke her heart.

Becker patted her shoulder, relieved she no longer stunk. "Come on, I'll give you a lift," he offered.

!*!*!

"What are we doing here?" Abby asked as Becker pulled up to what was hers and Connor's new house. They'd only closed the deal and got the keys two weeks previously. They were going to continue staying with Jess while the interior was painted. They hadn't bought any furniture. They were also going to spend the next year modernizing it as well. It wasn't ready to live in. They'd spend the next year renovating and making this place a home. Becker smirked and pointed across the street where Connor's SUV was parked. "I don't understand."

Becker gave her a little shove and she reluctantly got out. "Have a nice evening," he spoke as he reached across to pull the door shut. Abby stood alone in the street watching as he drove away. She sighed and walked down the street towards the front door of their new place. The block was fairly quiet and most people had gone to bed by now. Her stomach rumbled from hunger and she sighed wearily. She spied a faint amber glow in the window of their front room and she hoped it was Connor in there. Whatever he was up to, she sincerely hoped it could be dealt with swiftly. Her body ached, the muscles of her neck and shoulders were in knots, she was starving hungry and dead on her feet tired. She wasn't in the mood for talking about the house right now. She passed under the chestnut tree on the sidewalk and tried the door, finding it unlocked. She entered and closed the door behind her, latching it. The front hall was dark, the electricity wasn't turned on just yet. Above hung a lovely ornate chandelier that they both adored.

"Conn?" she called out into the empty space.

"Kitchen!" he called back. Abby made her way towards his voice. The kitchen was another thing they'd fallen in love with. The floors and units needed replacing, but there was a gorgeous brick wall to one side with a little alcove. There were large glass doors that led out into the garden with its high walls that would give them plenty of privacy. She rounded the corner and realized the light she'd seen from the street came from several pillar candles that sat upon the counter, burning bright. She stopped short at the display before her and felt a warmth spread through her entire body.

Most of their belongings from their old flat had been put in storage. They'd retrieved them and now kept them in the house. They hadn't done a stitch of unpacking but it seemed Connor had gone to the trouble of finding her camping gear and had set them up a little picnic. He'd laid out her sleeping bags like blankets, with the soft sides up. He'd found some cushions too. She saw a bottle of wine and two glasses, Indian takeaway from their favourite restaurant and a single red rose in the old vase they'd found abandoned in the garden.

She knew she must've had a look of complete shock on her face as her dear fiancé stood looking quite nervous, as if she'd somehow think he'd done wrong with his romantic gesture. She let out a shaky breath and raised her arm, offering him her hand. A smile appeared on his face, his relief obvious. He closed his hand over hers and she squeezed back.

"This okay?" he asked as he led her to the floor. "I know it's not much, but I thought maybe..."

"It's perfect," Abby whispered, sniffling and trying to keep her emotions in check. She was certain she'd be crying happy tears at some point this evening. Ever since the day he'd wormed his way into her flat, and subsequently her heart, she'd not been very good at holding back when he made such gestures of love and affection. They sat down next to each other and Connor put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a cuddle along with a kiss to her cheek.

"Hungry?" he asked, pulling one of the white plastic bags full of takeaway containers nearer.

"Starving!"

Connor grinned and kissed her once more. "Open the wine, I'll set out dinner."

"Did you get me..."

"Your vindaloo? Course, love. Butter chicken for me, and a mutter paneer to share. There's samosas and pakoras, with extra tamarind sauce. We'll definitely not run out this time!" Abby watched Connor, with his enthusiasm and smiles, and fell in love with him all over again. He handed her a fork and she handed him a glass of red wine. They clinked their glasses together and tucked in. After a stretch of silence and half the food had been consumed, Connor spoke again. "You know, one of the things I like best about this house? That we're so much closer to Suhkjeet's! We can have this every night if we want with it only a few blocks away. So much better than driving half an hour to pick up dinner!"

"Connor? I want us to get married this weekend," Abby blurted out. She barely caught the wine glass before it slipped from his hand. She set both glasses aside and lay her hand to his chest. "I want to be your wife straight away. We can have a proper wedding someday, but we both know that there'll never really be time to plan it properly, not the way normal couples do. Years could slip by and we'll still not have made it official. Of course we don't need to do it to prove we love each other, or that we'll always be together, but I want to have Temple for my last name and I want you to go around calling me your missus. I just... I want a marriage. A wedding's nice, but it's just one day. We can pick up your mum in Lancashire and either find someone there who'll marry us, or continue on to Gretna Greene..." She paused, searching his face for an answer. "Please?"

Connor's hand came up to cup the side of her face. He looked deep into her eyes. "Don't need to say such a thing as _please,_ Abby. Never. I love you. 'Course we can get married, as soon as possible. I'm still amazed you even want me..."

She immediately put her fingers to his lips to shush him. "Don't say another word. I love you, Connor Temple, more than I've ever loved anyone else in my entire life and that's the truth. I only have you, you know? Jack? When's the last time he even emailed me let alone called? You're my family now. Knowing we're married will, I don't know, make me feel complete, I guess. Thank you for tonight. You still manage to surprise me."

"Wanted to make you smile, didn't I?"

"You succeeded. Let's finish our supper, yeah? I'm still hungry enough to eat a horse!"

Connor nodded and stabbed a pakora with his fork, swirling it in the pot of tamarind sauce before offering it to her. Abby took the whole piece in her mouth and giggled as a drop of the sauce landed on her chin. Instantly Connor was there with his tongue to lap it up. They kissed and continued their meal.

As they were cleaning up, Abby reached for one of the plastic bags to put the empty containers in and jerked, letting out a sharp, pained whimper.

"Abby!" Connor exclaimed, immediately laying his hands upon her.

"Just a muscle spasm. Feels like its burning. I must've done some damage today in the menagerie. Got a bit bashed about at the anomaly too," she explained, rolling her shoulders and rotating her neck. Connor's hands felt about her muscles.

"They're tense and knotted, love. You should've said. Let me take care of you? Little massage?"

"Yeah? That would be wonderful!"

"Should've just asked, sweetheart, you know I can't resist touching you."

His fingertips ghosted against the column of her throat and she shivered. He smirked and tugged at the hem of her t-shirt, encouraging her to take it off. She obliged and Connor situated himself behind her, making a show of flexing his fingers in preparation for the task ahead. He hooked his pinky fingers under the straps of her bra and pulled them off her shoulders. He briefly put his nose into her hair to breathe her in after he pressed a feather light kiss to the nape of her neck.

His hands were gentle but thorough and Abby felt herself becoming lightheaded and soporific as he kneaded each muscle until it was soft and relaxed. Abby moaned and shuddered as he worked, feeling the tension leave her. He dug his thumbs into the tightest knots and circled them until the uncoiled. Soon Abby was tingling all over, feeling warm and aroused. Connor definitely had a magical touch when it came to making her body feel good. More than once she sighed in contentment and Connor continued his ministrations, no thought yet to anything but taking away her pains.

Once her neck and shoulders were fully seen to, his hands moved lower, down between her shoulder blades. He paused only to unhook her bra, smirking as he did so. He kissed a soft, sensual line up her spine, then wrapped her up in his arms, resting his cheek to her back. "Want more, love?" he asked with a whisper to her ear. She nodded and smiled, eyes fluttering closed as she leaned back against his chest. As his hand snuck under the waistband of her sweats and into her knickers, fingers delving between her legs like running through silk, Abby felt her whole being suffuse with pleasure. She turned her head to meet his lips for a deep kiss with tongues twined together, soft and caressing.

He made her body sing with an ecstatic release first, then promised more as he laid her down and began divesting them both of their clothing. As he lay himself atop her, Abby welcomed him and her thoughts turned to the walls that surrounded them and how they'd spend the years to come making this house a home. There'd be laughter and tears, joys and hopefully few sorrows. Above all there would be love. She imagined them having babies and packing school lunches, and settling down to nights by the fire with their family. Abby wrapped her arms around Connor and smiled as he moved within her, tender and giving. Her heart was full to bursting. He'd taken what had begun as an awful day and made it one of the best she could remember. He'd done as much for the course of her life. He'd found her not knowing that what she'd been missing was him and from day one, he'd been showing her just that. She was never letting him go.

The End


End file.
